VPCart Hosting: Official Statement Regarding Specter And Meltdown Vulnerabilities

For all VPCart hosting customers, we are posting this blog in respect of recent security vulnerabilities discovered in most of the modern processor architectures which are used by many clouds including VPCart Hosting.

SECURITY ALERT:
A number of recent security alerts have been received about security vulnerabilities discovered in Intel and AMD processors. The vulnerabilities are known as Meltdown and Spectre affecting many modern microprocessors.

IMPACT:

• The issue is not specific to any one vendor and takes advantage of techniques commonly used in most of the modern processor architectures. This means that a large range of products are affected from desktops and laptops to servers and storage, even smartphones.

• Mitigations include updates to both system software (Operating System (OS) patch) and firmware (BIOS, microcode updates). In some environments this may include hypervisor patches, patches to virtualization software, browsers and JavaScript engines.

• Good security hygiene should continue to be used. This includes ensuring devices are updated with the latest patches, employing anti-virus updates and advanced threat protection solutions as well as encrypting data.

Extra information on the vulnerabilities:

• Intel Security Channel - https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/facts-about-side-channel-analysis-and-intel-products.html
• AMD Security Channel - http://www.amd.com/en/corporate/speculative-execution
• Wikipedia explanation about Meltdown - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meltdown_(security_vulnerability)
• Wikipedia explanation about Spectre - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectre_(security_vulnerability)

RECOMMENDED ACTION for customers:
There are essential components that need to be applied to mitigate the above mentioned vulnerabilities:

1. Apply the applicable operating system (OS) patch.
2. Apply browser and JavaScript engines updates where applicable.

We recommend taking this action as soon as practical given the nature of the security vulnerabilities.

Action Taken by VPCart Hosting:
All of our web servers have been patched for this Meltdown and Spectre by today.

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